Divine Punishment
by Tears Falling Freely
Summary: Akito has finally caged Kyo, yet Kyo isn't as broken as Akito wants him to be. Spoilers, possible oneshot.
1. Divine Punishment

A/N: I noticed a lack of Kyo, cage, Akito stories, and I wanted angst sort of, so I decided to write this.

Warnings: Spoilers, mainly pretaining to Akito. Cursing, het sort of, nudity, and yeah. Mentions death and a pile of bones. Violence, Akito's insanity (if that's what it's called).

Just so you know, Akito bashes Tohru, heck, Akito bashes Tohru in the manga so I'm not character bashing. I love all the characters, even Kureno and Akito, so if it seemed like any bashing was going on, it wasn't intended that way.

A/N Part Two: Also, if anyone wants me to write the Zodiacs reaction, tell me and I'll write it. Pleae review.

* * *

"You're a monstrosity, no one will love," Akito murmured in his ear, "Only I can care for a monster like you, my pet."

Kyo grit his teeth as Akito leaned into him, his breath ghosting against his ear.

"Yuki's my favorite."

"Than why aren't you playing with him?"

"Because, you're much easier to break, to taunt. You're much more available, not even Shigure would dare protect you."

Akito smirked, "Even Tohru, that ugly hag monster, is too scared of you to act, to afraid of me, of my beauty, of my wrath."

"_Don't_ . . . don't you _dare _talk about Tohru like that," Kyo's voice was shaky and Akito descended on that like a vulture.

"Why . . . . Do you love her? Does a monster like you care about a monster like her, you filthy animal?"

They were in a dank windowless room with only a lantern lighting it up, a lantern that Akito would take with him when he left, plunging the cage into darkness. It was the same one the last cat occupied, Kyo could tell because there was a pile of bones in one corner and it stunk of death. Scrapes of material could be seen near the pile of bones and every time Kyo looked over there he couldn't help but cringe.

Kureno came every so often to drag him to a room that had one window. He was usually only there one or twice and every so often, if Kyo looked past the bushes that hid the window from view, he could catch glimpses of Zodiac members and Sohma family members. Besides Akito and Kureno, the only one who knew about the one windowed room was Shigure. Shigure never came to visit, it wasn't allowed, but sometimes, if Kyo felt like it, he could look out the window and once in a while catch a glimpse of Shigure walking past the room.

The only other people he saw regularly walking past the window was Yuki and Tohru. From what he gathered from Akito, Yuki and Tohru were living together in a house on Sohma property. Akito often taunted Kyo that the two were together, but Kyo knew that wasn't true. Shigure had once announced loudly that Tohru wouldn't date anyone for anything. It had seemed as if he was talking to himself but Kyo knew better.

From what he could see, Tohru had grown an inch or two taller, but that was about it. As for Yuki, he seemed to have grown a few inches and seemed to stand as tall as Shigure. Tohru's hair was the same length as was Yuki. The only real difference seemed to be Yuki's features. They seemed hardened yet softened all at the same time. While Tohru's only real change seemed to be a maturity in her stance and eyes. He hadn't gotten all this from glimpses, instead, Akito had brought in a photo of the whole cast of Juunishi, minus Akito of course.

He only got a meal once a day and to occupy his time he'd practice martial arts in the windowless room and one windowed room. The proof was in the bruised walls. Still, despite all that work, he could still feel his muscles start to deteriorate. Even Hatori wasn't allowed to see him. Instead, whenever he fell ill, Akito tended to him, spitting insults and curses at him the whole time; usually about how weak he was, how pathetic.

Than finally it happened.

* * *

Kyo got ready to hit the wall again, this time with a kick, when the door behind him opened. He turned rapidly, getting ready for anything. A bright flash met his eyes, stinging them. His hands flew up to cover them as another flash light the room. Suddenly a tight grasp gripped his wrists and dragged him forward.

He leaned away from whoever it was that was dragging him, but it didn't work. Soon enough he was outside, and he felt something close on his neck. When he managed to open his eyes he was squinting at Akito, Akito who had a camera in one hand and a leash in another. When he looked down he noticed it was an orange cat collar and orange leash. He hissed angrily and glared at Akito. A third flash happened in his eyes, but this time it wasn't as bad because he was out in the sunlight now.

"Now, now Kyo be a good boy and pose for the video camera," Akito was grinning widely, and laughing every so often.

"You goddamn son of a bitch!"

"Now, now Kyo, everyone's going to be watching this, so no foul language. We wouldn't want the kiddies to be scared or for them to know our relationship is actually that close," his voice lowered suddenly, but it was still loud enough for the vidoe camera to catch, "No one undermines my authority. Not without consequences anyway. I am your master, your god, you'll obey me like a good little monstrous kitty, and you'll like it."

The camera was set on a tripod Kyo hadn't seen. Akito put the camera he had taken pictures with down next to the tripod and Akito stalked forward, tightening his hold on the leash all the while.

"You know, I take back what I said before, Yuki was much easier to break, you monster," Akito finally stopped in front Kyo, "I will eventually have complete control over you, even if that means using unorthodox methods. Of course, this means I'll have to touch the disgustingly filthy cat, but it's nothing an exorcism can't fix."

With no further warning other than a condescending sneer, Akito tilted his head up at the same time he yanked on the leash, cutting Kyo's breath short and making his lips land on Akito's. Akito's free hand came up to twist harshly the hair at the nape Kyo's neck and tug him close enough so that their bodies were pressed closely together. Finally, Akito reared back and slapped Kyo hard across the check, and in his shock, Kyo allowed his body to fall to its knees.

"How dare you, you disgusting monster? You filthy, filthy vermin! How dare you kiss me? You sick freak!"

All Kyo could do was stare straight ahead, letting Akito yank harshly on the leash with every word.

"I didn't even allow Yuki to do that you pathetic cat. I ought to have Hatori put you down. You're worthless!" than Akito seemed to gain a bit of composure, though not enough in Kyo's opinion, "But no, that's too good for you. You'd be happy to be put down, to be euthanized. No, I can't let that happen, you have to be miserably happy with me; you have to suffer with me, like the rest of the Juunishi. Yuki, oh yes Yuki, he's special to me, he's _just like me_. He'll enjoy this immensely, he'll be begging to be apart of it. But I won't let him because he's mine, he's me. You're mine alone, no one else's. No one but me can love you."

He seemed to stop to catch his breath, panting hard. Kyo looked up to gaze dazedly at Akito, wanting it to stop.

"You're more like me than Yuki. Yuki will live . . . but you . . . you'll die with me, you and I will be together for eternity. Forever and you'll be dependent on me. The others . . . Shigure will take over for me until a new god is born . . . maybe this one will actually be male. Maybe she'll finally be satisfied, and Shigure, . . . I know he slept with mom . . . . Rotten dirty dog, . . . constantly in heat . . . kind of like you, monster. I know you wanted Tohru . . . how fitting . . . a monster for a monster. You don't deserve me, I'm a god, and you're a monster . . . well, more like a goddess."

Kyo was too tired to really care what gender Akito was at this point. All he knew was that Akito was a dirty rotten bitch and deserved to be treated like one.

_'Why can't we stand up to Akito?'_

Finally Kyo gained enough wits to talk, though the yanking on the leash didn't help him to gain enough air for speech.

"Why . . . do we . . . follow you? You . . . you're nothing . . . but a hag, . . . a bitter shrew, . . . who's scared . . . to die . . . and who can't feel . . . love for others . . . or itself . . . _You're pathetic!_"

That seemed to be that last straw for Akito, for than Akito did something that was very much illegal, something called public indecency. Akito's violent shaking caused her loose robe to finally fall off, the sash easily unfurling. She wore nothing underneath and it was easy to see her bones, her skin thinner than paper due to intense constant illness. She was nearly flat chested, having only small round breasts, not nearly big enough to show through the loose robes she usually wore.

She lunged at Kyo and pushed him onto his back, and his knee's painfully folded beneath him. He could swear he hear his knee's breaking . . . or at least spraining. She straddled his hips and started to scratch and punch him repeatedly, all the while yelling insults and threats, plus the occasional rare swear words. Her creativity surprising, even for one nearly twenty years old.

Pounding footsteps vaguely reached Kyo's ears and all of a sudden, an eternity later it seemed, someone pulled Akito off of him. It appeared to be Kureno. He hauled Akito off by the waist, turned and happened to give the camera a full frontal blast of Akito as she was straight as a piece of cardboard in shock. Less than a minute later she seemed to realize what had happened because she dropped the leash and started flail wildly.

"Kyo . . . stay here."

With that monotone order Kureno walked away with the struggling Akito. Kyo would have gotten up and attempted to flee, but his knees were broken or at least sprained and it hurt too much. His head, body, mind was sent reeling, by pain new and old.

He struggled, but the physical shock was too much, tears slipped down his cheeks, though he didn't sob. It didn't come in a torrent or even slowly, they just slipped steadily if not shakily down his cheeks.

It took fifteen minutes for Kureno to come back and lift Kyo up. He slung Kyo's arm over his shoulder and allowed him to lean into him.

Before he led Kyo away, he stopped in front of the camera.

"You . . . want to say anything?"

Kyo hesitated but slowly a pained smile slipped on his face.

"Tohru . . . I never got a chance to say this . . . . I was satisfied with being by your side till the end . . . . Though I regret not saying anything now, . . . I love you. Oh, and tell . . . Yankee she's still a prissy bitch and that . . . Hanajima is still very creepy."

He paused before going on. This would be the last time he would get to say anything to them.

"Shigure . . . I still think you're a perverted bastard and a scheming liar but . . . thank you, you are a . . . kind person . . . you did let me and . . . . Yuki . . . stay at your house . . . though we destroyed your door, your house countless times . . . I guess I'm grateful . . . though you'll never hear me say it to your face. Just . . . don't regret anything . . . or it's all waste."

Getting enough breath was difficult, but he was determined to keep going.

"Haru . . . I may be the cursed cat . . . but at least I . . . have more control than you . . . . You really should get a lid for Black Haru . . . . Though I . . . think you're still a brat . . . and a irritating bastard . . . I enjoyed our fights."

Light-headedness threatened to send him unconscious but he was determined.

"Hiro, Kisa, Momiji . . . Hiro you really . . . should stop being so condescending . . . . You'll never get closer to Kisa otherwise . . . so . . . be nice to Tohru . . . or you won't get anywhere. Kisa . . . remember, chin up. Momiji, as annoying as you were, always bothering me at the . . . most inopportune times . . . you do manage to lighten up the atmosphere . . . . Keep it up . . . for Tohru at least . . ."

"Hatori, Ayame . . . . Well, I guess Hatori, you should . . . keep looking out for the family . . . even . . . that . . . Akito bitch. I don't want to even think what it'll be like . . . if Shigure takes over . . . even for a little while. Ayame . . . I still want you to stay away from my stuff, . . . keep aggravating Yuki for me . . ."

"Kagura . . . I don't love you . . . but you aren't a half bad friend . . . . Just wish . . . you didn't give . . . me those . . . injuries all the time . . . and that annoying girly mushy stuff . . . . Ritsu, you . . . need to relax . . . Rin . . . keep walking . . . and talk to . . . Haru . . ."

"Kazuma . . . I know you can't be proud of me . . . and yet . . . you are . . . you . . . really were . . . are my . . . father . . . thank you . . . for everything . . . I love you"

"Akito . . . you bitch . . . I'd say I hope you rot in hell, but that's too good for you . . . but . . . you're scared right? Of being alone and unloved . . . but . . . acting the way you do . . . won't solve anything . . . you'll . . . never get . . . that . . . will you? I hope . . . I die . . . before you . . . do . . . I don't want to . . . die with you . . . ."

Kyo shuddered, his body shaking and he could tell he was very close to transforming.

"Yuki, you rat bastard . . . now you'll have to . . . fight Haru . . . when he turns black . . . . Than again, you'll probably have . . . an easier time of it . . . as much as that stings to admit . . . . I . . . want you to . . . take care of . . . Tohru you stupid rat . . . even if it . . . costs you . . . your life . . . . I hate being in your debt . . . but Tohru's an exception . . . ha; you'd protect her anyway . . . . You wouldn't want to listen to me anyway . . . . Damn rat . . . I hope . . . you rot in hell . . ."

Finally feeling too close to transformation, he managed to get in one more sentence; he managed to make it steady despite his straining body.

"I'll miss you all despite everything, even you, you damn rat . . . at least our fights anyway; they were fun while they lasted."

With one last hard stare at the camera, he allowed himself to transform. When the smoke cleared Kureno had Kyo held by the scruff off the throat, and let the leash trail on the ground.


	2. Divine Punishments Rule

A/N: Thank you to everyone who read this and thank you to the reviewers, you're the ones that made find the inspiration for me to type up a second part. Now, I couldn't decide between a ambigious ending or a character death ending so I did both. The second ending is cut off and labeled at the bottom of this fic. The cut off part at the bottom is the character death ending, so you can read on or the other.

Warning: Goryness/Grossness. attempted suicide, curse words and the like. (What do you expect, it's Akito)

As a side note, the reason it flips back to she than he is because they don't know, besides a few privledged individuals, that Akito is actually female.

Also at the very bottom, after the alternate ending, there's some words from a book I read from what I can remember. The book was Feast of Souls the first in the Magister trilogy. It goes with the last line in both endings.

Diclaimer: I do NOT own Fruits Basket or its characters in any way shape or form. I do NOT own the book The Feast of Souls, the first in the Magister Trilogy or its sayings/and/or words.

* * *

The only way to describe Akito's expression was malicious sadism. He was standing in the main house, in his room, and had gathered all the Juunishi, and had even allowed Tohru and Kazuma to join them. She had ordered Kureno to bring in a TV and had him hook the camera up to it. She was standing in front of the TV and the younger set of Zodiac members were sitting in a half circle in front of it. Shigure was standing behind them with Kureno, Ritsu, Hatori, Ayame, and Kazuma. Tohru was sitting within the circle of Yuki's arms, looking anxious while Yuki had his head rested on her shoulder staring closely at Akito, as if looking for clues.

"As you all know, I imprisoned the cat, and haven't allowed any of you to see it or vice versa. Well, as your beloved god, I decided to treat you all with a glimpse of the foul animal."

Without flourish, without fuss, with only a smirk of cruelty, he brought forth two pictures from the folds of his loose robe. At first everyone was too surprised to look at the pictures, but finally they snapped out of it and nearly went bugged eyed at the pictures. One picture was a little blurry and out of focus, but they could still make out Kyo holding his arms in front of his face as if the camera flash had hurt. It only showed his head so nothing besides matted hair could be seen. It was the second that really caused the flinches.

Kyo was squinting into the camera but his arms were down by his sides and it was a full body shot and he was shirtless. His stomach was sunken in and his ribs showed, he had lost muscle mass and any fat reserves he had so he was skinner than he had been before. He had lost most of his tan, his skin was pale and was covered in goose-bumps. His hair was matted and filthy, sticking up in every which direction, stiff with something that no one wanted to dwell on.

He had sores on his elbows and scratch marks on his stomach, face and arms. A gaping wound stretched from his left collar bone to his right nipple. It was encrusted in blood and small patches of skin that peeked through were black with infection. The inside of the wound had bits of dirt and straw in it but it was obvious that it was half healed with the way the skin seemed to be closing at the edges.

"You know, that wound," here Akito pointed to the infected gash, "he tried to carve his own heart out, but I came in as he was sinking the bowel shard into his chest, below the collar bone. I _saved_ him; I lunged forward and grabbed his wrist. He wasn't expecting it and he nearly went straight down. Luckily, it wasn't that deep, so he didn't bleed to death. He broke his own food bowel just so he could commit suicide, that dirty shameful monster. After I cared for him, he should worship me! I saved his worthless life, I was merciful. I'm the only one who can love a monster like him, he should be grateful."

The maniac glint in Akito's eyes sufficiently silenced whatever anyone may say, but Tohru looked sick, Ritsu looked like he may faint and Hatori actually seemed uneasy, though he masked it with indifference. Shigure was stone faced and Yuki actually looked frightened, though it was more because of Akito than the stupid cat.

_'It's the stupid cats fault he ended up like this'_and yet it seemed like he was trying to convince himself.

Momiji had tears in his eyes and Hiro actually seemed distressed. Kisa was clinging to Hiro like he was a life preserver and her bottom lip was trembling. Kazuma eyes held an outraged glint and a dangerous simmering seemed to emit from him. Outwardly though, he was stony faced, refusing to give into his emotions. Ayame had a carefully blank face, but he was staring intently at the picture. Rin was staring straight at the pictures but no on could tell what she was feeling. Kureno was carefully blank as usual.

"Now, as a special treat, I am going to allow you to watch something I filmed."

He seemed so pleased with himself that for a moment everyone was unified in their feelings of disgust, though disgust for what wasn't totally obvious. But, Akito was god, anything he says goes.

So everyone waited with bated breath as the play button was pushed and Akito slid out of the way and eventually went to stand beside Kureno behind the younger Zodiac members. The first few minutes were watched stonily, silently, but when Kyo called Akito a 'god damn son of a bitch', everyone winced for Kyo. At the mention of consequences the younger set of Zodiac members flinched and the adults grit their teeth. Tohru was close to tears and gripping tightly onto Yuki's arms and it was obvious her nails would leave crescent marks.

When Akito marched forward and started to talk again Yuki paled several shades, the tendons in Tohru's neck became visible, Kazuma was actually twitching, and Shigure actually looked ready to be sick.

When Akito surged forward and forced Kyo to kiss him Tohru's tears started to fall. Yuki looked scared shitless. Shigure had paled and Kazuma actually started to growl lightly. Rin flinched and Hatori's mask seemed to crack. Kisa had huddled into Hiro but couldn't take her eyes off the screen; it was like watching a train wreck. When Akito reared back and slapped Kyo all the Zodiac members but Kureno gasped. When Akito spoke his mini speech Tohru, Yuki, Shigure, and Kazuma made sounds of protest, but the rest were in too much shock to do anything but watch.

When Kyo talked back Yuki drew in a sharp breath, mumbling

"No, you stupid cat; why are you winding Akito up?"

Everyone was paying rapt attention, but when Akito lost the remaining composure he had and jumped on Kyo everyone except Shigure, Kureno, Rin, and Hatori made an exclamation of surprise when Akito's robe fell off. Tohru was audibly crying by this point and looked ready for a nervous breakdown while Yuki could only stare raptly at the recording like everyone else. The full shock came when Kureno pulled Akito off of Kyo and they got a full frontal image of Akito, revealing that Akito was actually female. While everyone was shocked, Hatori, Kureno, and Shigure didn't seem the least surprised, Akito remaining stony faced the whole time.

When Kyo started to talk to the camera, everyone paid careful attention. Kyo had a black eye and bloody scratches all over his face but he still talked, though his breath was coming in short pants. Tohru was openly sobbing when the talk for her was over and she was mumbling that she loved Kyo too.

When Shigure heard his part he went slack jawed for a moment before smirking in playful joy, "Thank you Kyo, it was fun having you destroy my house."

Haru visibly perked up, but then sneered semi-jokingly, "Yeah, I enjoyed kicking your ass, cat."

Hiro blushed bright red for a moment before he sneered condescendingly when his turn cropped up, "Look who's talking."

Kisa gave a watery smile when Kyo addressed her. Momiji gave a small laugh, "Don't worry Kyo, I'll keep it up, and . . . sorry, for annoying you so much."

Hatori seemed a bit surprised at Kyo's words before shaking his head disbelievingly. Ayame seemed a bit surprised too, before he gave a shaky laugh, "Annoy my brother? No, we're bonding!"

Kagura, who had been white as a sheet and white knuckled the whole time, blinked before giving a complaintive, _"Kyo!"_

Ritsu and Rin seemed surprised when Kyo addressed them, but in the end Ritsu gave a small smile and a few shaky words, "Thank you Kyo, I don't deserve such kind words." Rin didn't seem to be able to give a reaction, just continued to stare at the screen.

When Kazuma's turn came he seemed to choke before murmuring, "I do see you as my son, and I'm proud of you, I love you too."

When Akito's turn came she seemed surprised, too shocked to do anything, probably not having gone through the whole film.

When Yuki heard his 'orders' he felt a little outraged but when he heard Kyo say he knew he'd do it anyway, he snorted, "I'll do it because I want to do it, not because of you." He nearly laughed when Kyo talked like he knew him and told him to rot in hell.

Everyone watched in silence as he poofed into a cat and was carried away. A few minutes later the screen went black, presumably Kureno having come back and turned off the camera.

After a silent moment everyone turned to Akito, who seemed to still be in a bit of shock. When everyone stared at her for more than a few seconds, she snapped out of it.

"See, I saved you all, I saved us all from that monstrosity that dares call itself human."

No one could protest, Akito was god and Kazuma and Tohru were too upset to say anything.

"You'll never escape me, unless I allow it and I'll never allow it," she paused, seemingly to get her breathe back, "I'll make good on my promises regarding punishments, always. So you better listen to me."

All of a sudden she started laughing deafeningly. Everyone watched apprehensively for a reason why, fearing it had something to do with the cat.

"So, while it was still in cat form, we took it to the _vet_. It was so sick, and under so much stress that it didn't transform back. The vet saw it immediately. The cat was a stray we had seen laying on our driveway. It had an infection. The gash needed flushing, the wound needed to be reopened and it had to bleed out the infection while stuffing it with antibiotics, then it needed to be shut. The bones in its back legs were cracked. IT was in so much pain, even unconscious it was yowling. It's still at the vets now, it'll be there a few days, under observation, they're not sure if the shock will kill it or not."

Everyone was slacked jawed, even Rin. Well, Kureno was an exception because he had been there. A flicker of regret seemed to surge across Shigure's eyes and Tohru had finally turned her head into Yuki, sobbing and mumbling helplessly. Kisa had buried her head into Hiro's side, wetting his shirt with her tears, and Momiji seemed to be holding something in. Kazuma looked mad with grief, ready to attack Akito at a moments notice.

Akito seemed to be gathering breath as she plowed on.

"You . . . . Do you see what will happen if you disobey me? I am your god . . . that filthy flea bitten animal got what it deserved . . . it wouldn't listen to me . . . so . . . so you all have to listen to me . . . or else!" heavy pants seemed to spill forth from Akito like a broken fountain.

"I . . . want . . . LEAVE!!! Leave me now! I don't want to see your faces."

No one moved, to shocked to even think of doing something. Sure, Akito often lost her composure, but never this bad. It seemed like she was breaking at the seams.

"Kureno! Get them out of here; I don't want to see anyone right now."

_'I don't want anyone to see me.'_

"Get them out or else!" Akito's voice seemed hoarse to everyone in the room, but Kureno obeyed nonetheless.

At first no one would budge, but Kazuma left first, tearing his eyes away from Akito and turning to the sliding door. Hatori dug into his lab coats pocket, came back out with a cigarette and lighter and lit one up before calmly walking to the door. Ayame seemed to be in a trance as he followed Hatori out, only managing a glance back at Yuki and Tohru before he and Hatori were out the door. Shigure, instead of leaving, walked off to the side as Rin got up and walked out. Slowly the rest of the Juunishi filed out, Hiro dragging a still sobbing Kisa to the door and Momiji dragging his feet behind them. Haru got up but waited at Yuki's shoulder instead of leaving. Ritsu seemed undecided as his eyes watered and he swayed unsteadily, but he finally filed out after Momiji.

Finally Yuki managed to drag the still crying Tohru up and was silently grateful when Haru put his hand on the shoulder Tohru wasn't leaning against. They lingered, staring at Shigure, but they finally went out the door. Yuki keept his piercing eyes on Shigure the whole time, trusting Haru to not let him slam into the door frame.

Soon enough it was only Shigure, Akito, and Kureno in the room. Everything seemed so silently still for a minute that it was as if time had frozen. When it passed, Akito turned irritated eyes on Shigure.

"Was it really worth it?"

For a second, Akito was confused by Shigure's words before they penetrated.

"Of course it was, how dare you suggest otherwise."

She walked shakily to Shigure before slapping him, though it wasn't as hard as it usually would be.

When Shigure tried to enclose her in his arms she struggled, scratching and kicking, before she settled down and went limp when she realized Shigure wasn't letting go.

A phantom of Shigure's words seemed to permit the very air, but Akito ignored it.

_'Was it really worth it?'_

_

* * *

_

_-------------------------- (Alternate Ending) --------------------------_

"So, while he was still in cat form, we took him to the _vet_. He was so sick, and under so much stress that he didn't transform back. The vet saw him immediately. He was a stray we had seen laying on our driveway. He was infected. The gash would need flushing, the wound would need to be reopened and he would have to bleed out the infection while fitting it with antibiotics, then it would have needed to be shut. The infection had already reached his heart. The bones in his back legs were cracked. So the vet suggested he be euthanized and what do you now, he offered it for free because the cat would have been dead in a few hours. We were _merciful_; we saved him from his suffering. I would have liked to drag him with me, but we'll both be going to hell, so we can still spend eternity together."

Everyone was slacked jawed, even Rin, well, Kureno was an exception because he had been there. A flicker of regret seemed to surge across Shigure's eyes and Tohru had finally turned her head into Yuki, sobbing and mumbling helplessly. Kisa had buried her head into Hiro's side, wetting his shirt with her tears, and Momiji seemed to be holding something in. Kazuma looked mad with grief, ready to attack Akito at a moments notice.

Akito seemed to be gathering breath as she plowed on.

"You . . . . Do you see what will happen if you disobey me? I am your god . . . that filthy flea bitten animal got what he deserved . . . he wouldn't listen to me . . . so . . . so you all have to listen to me . . . or else!" heavy pants seemed to spill forth from Akito like a broken fountain.

"I . . . want . . . LEAVE!!! Leave me now; I don't want to see your faces."

No one moved, to shocked to even think of doing something. Sure, Akito often lost her composure, but never this bad. It seemed like she was breaking at the seams.

"Kureno! Get them out of here; I don't want to see anyone right now."

_'I don't want anyone to see me.'_

"Get them out or else!" Akito's voice seemed hoarse to everyone in the room, but Kureno obeyed nonetheless.

At first no one would budge, but Kazuma left first, tearing his eyes away from Akito and turning to the sliding door. Hatori dug into his coat pocket, came back out with a cigarette and lighter and lit one up before calmly walking to the door. Ayame seemed to be in a trance as he followed Hatori out, only managing a glance back at Yuki and Tohru before he and Hatori were out the door. Shigure, instead of leaving, walked off to the side as Rin got up and walked out. Slowly the rest of the Juunishi filed out, Hiro dragging a still sobbing Kisa and Momiji dragging his feet behind them. Haru got up but waited at Yuki's shoulder instead of leaving. Ritsu seemed undecided as his eyes watered and he swayed unsteadily, but he finally filed out after Momiji.

Finally Yuki managed to drag the still crying Tohru up and was silently grateful when Haru put his hand on the shoulder Tohru wasn't leaning against. They lingered, staring at Shigure, but they finally went out the door, Yuki keeping his piercing eyes on Shigure the whole time, trusting Haru to not let him slam into the door frame.

Soon enough it was only Shigure, Akito, and Kureno in the room. Everything seemed to silently still for a minute that it was as if time had frozen. When it passed, Akito turned irritated eyes on Shigure.

"Was it really worth it?"

For a second, Akito was confused by Shigure's words before they penetrated.

"Of course it was, how dare you suggest otherwise."

She walked shakily to Shigure before slapping him, though it wasn't as hard as it usually would be.

When Shigure tried to enclose her in his arms she struggled, scratching and kicking, before she settled down and went limp when she realized Shigure wasn't letting go.

A phantom of Shigure's words seemed to permit the very air, but Akito ignored it.

_'Was it really worth it?'_

* * *

_ 'Was it really worth it?' _

Those words could ruin you, whatever answer you gave. If you said yes, than everything that had happened in your life was your own damn fault. If you said no than you died with regret.


End file.
